Dream life
by Eleos Fall3nAngel
Summary: Another riot starts just a little while after Valentine's death, his defeat enraging many of his followers. But as they investigate, Clary gets bitten, not by a vampire, but by a Forsaken.
1. Chapter 1

**Hope you like, this actually came from a dream that I had, and is quite tightly based on the dream. It was very detailed, like someone wanted me to write it, so here it is. I don't own anything, all the awesomeness remains in the one and only Cassandra Clare. **

Chapter 1: Running

A parking lot, on the third floor of a plush office, stood still as a black SUV pulled fierily to the side, almost slamming itself into a wall. There was another car, swerving through the maze of vehicles parked in the lot. For a while, time slowed to an almost-frozen state, and the cars chased each other excruciatingly slowly. Then time righted itself and the two automobiles came to a halt, and two men, size of about 6'5, climbed out of the second car and moved, like heavy rocks, towards the black Saturn. From there climbed out two teens, scrambling to get away from the monsters behind them. Jace led them towards the opening at the side of the lot and out into the staircase.

It was unlike any staircase any one ever did see. It even had a lobby waiting just at floor level, and it overlooked the whole office building, with the more convenient elevators on the opposite side. Too bad they didn't take those, Clary thought, as she raced down the stairs after Jace as fast as her legs could go.

Time then seemed to fly, and soon the two were out the door of the lobby, unnoticed by the mundanes that filled the area, glamour protecting their eyes from all that they couldn't understand.

They ran, like two fugitives would have. But mundane fugitives would not have had supernatural Forsaken for a bounty hunter. The distorted nature of humans trying their luck at the Shadow World, or were simply hired by some cruel warlock, too cowardly to fight his own wars.

And so they ran, and knew it wouldn't have been far from there. The other car, their fall-back plan, to get back to the Institute from the Upper-East side. Clary saw the sky was ready to let go of the heavy clouds that it bore, and she hoped that they would make it back to see the rain, instead of get stepped on and killed by those two thugs chasing them. She still wasn't quite sure why they were chasing her, or what Jace had wanted accomplished when they came here. All she knew was that she needed to run, a lesson easy learned as a Nephilim.

The car, sitting patiently at the corner, came into view. And soon, they were upon it, Jace, digging the keys into the engine and starting to move the car even before Clary had fully got on. He knew she would make it, but he also knew she hated it when he challenged her. But it was needed, a Shadowhunter's life was full of challenges, and Clary needed to learn to deal with them.

And finally they were off, heading out into the rain, leaving their Forsaken enemies in their dust.


	2. Chapter 2

**I like short chapters, sorry to those who don't. I don't own anything, bla bla... hope u enjoy!**

Chapter 2: Forsaken's Wrath

Jace howled like he'd just defeated an all-hell-break-loose situation. He laughed loudly, and then turned towards Clary as he veered the car down the street. She looked terrified, but he could see that there was a little madness and amusement in her eyes, as he was sure was mirrored in his. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she took a while to come out of an awed stare, then punched his shoulder, hard. "What the HELL do you think you were doing coming here? We could have died!"

"Ah, we didn't, and that's what's important."

"Why? What did you want to know from this?"

Jace sighed, he didn't think it was the right time to tell what he had predicted, worried he was going to frighten her, or any one else. A few days back, Magnus had informed him that Magnus' old tutor, a warlock from long ago, had worked for Valentine, and was deep in affection to the man. Of course, with affection comes revenge, and Magnus was asked to join him in another revolt to the Clave. Jace doubted that he actually had anything to fight with, and had come to his office in New York, but only to find his doubts abolished, and Forsaken chasing them.

He took another exasperated sigh, and told Clary the information he knew.

For a while, Clary looked confused and in pain. Valentine was a touchy subject for them, and would not have been discussing him lightly as a daily conversation. But his name had to come up, and Jace saw the old memories and pains boiling up in her eyes, and wish he could help in some way to make her feel better, only to find no way. Finally, Clary said, "So? We can just fight them, can't we? You can't possibly think that he has a big storage of forces, do you?"

"I didn't think so, but then again, those were his Forsaken chasing us just now." Jace he ran his fingers through his hair, "So, I really don't know."

They were quiet for a little while longer, then Clary suggested getting her mother and Luke back from Idris, where they were discussing the Clave's access to Clary's powers. Then inform the Clave about this warlock, Minoru, and allow them to send some more Shadowhunters to plump up the Conclave for a fight. Jace didn't fight against the idea, thinking maybe it'll have to be the best.

They pulled up towards a garden a block off from the Institute, just in case they were being followed, and got off the car to walk a little around to confuse the followers, if there were any, which Jace doubted.

The street was a little wet with dew from rain that poured down on their car as they drove here, but now it had lightened up to a drizzle. Clary came to stand by his side and gingerly took his hand, a gesture that made his heart jump ten times towards his throat. He smiled, more genuinely then if he were to smile to any one else. He loved her, there was no question about that.

There was a question, however, about how and why Jace's predictability had gone down to such a low state after Valenine's death. As they turned, they saw their Forsaken bounty-hunters, coming for a second round.


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh, this is the fun part! I don't own anything, bla bla... Hope you like!**

Chapter 3: A Bite Worse Than a Vampire's

Clary started to back away into the car, feeling its sleek, metal surface for anything to fling at the Forsaken. They approached slowly, and Clary almost imagined them having their hands stretched out. A classical zombie movie if that did happen. She turned her head up to Jace's direction, seeing his jaw clench and unclench as he thought of a way out.

They ran fast, as the two have already seen, so a chase they would loose was not a good option. Jace's hand slid to his belt, where a seraph blade awaited. "_Sandalphon_," he whispered and the blade seared into life. Charging was his only option, so he took it, barely even having time to whisper "run" in Clary's ear.

He raised his blade and focused on one of the Forsaken, and soon, after only two dodges, he dug _Sandalphon _into the Forsaken's side. He turned for the other, trying to locate the small bench and garden that had been there so he would not fall over them. Just as he did so, rough, paw-like hands grabbed his shoulders, an arm going around his neck in a tight headlock.

Jace usually was not bad with headlocks, he could get out of Alec's easily, but surprisingly, no Forsaken had been quick enough, or sane enough, to have gotten him in one before. He was choking and couldn't really see what was going on, eyes spotted with red and black. He heard footsteps, and wished it was Clary, running away from the madness and towards safety. Of course, his wish was not fulfilled, and he felt the body behind him stiffen and weak down, and debris falling from over the Forsaken's shoulder. Jace used this opportunity to grab the thug's forearms and twist out of the headlock. The giant flinched, and spat blood, and Jace saw what looked like a chair, now scattered on the ground around the Forsaken. He also spotted a small trace of a wooden stick, going right through the Forsaken's body from the back, and he saw a hand, pale and small on the guy's shoulder. He knew it was Clary and wanted to grab her hand and run, but instead, the Forsaken got it. He twisted Clary's arm so she sidestepped from behind him, and then the Forsaken did something Jace had never thought of before. He bit her, hard, drawing blood at where the teeth sank in. Clary didn't scream, just a tiny wince. She'd gotten over screams long ago. But her wince was loud enough to snap Jace from his mental paralysis, and he tackled the Forsaken to the ground, _Sandalphon _seeping into the giant's gray flesh.

Jace got up, dazed, staring at the motionless Forsaken at his feet. He then turned towards Clary, fearing what he would see, and getting the satisfaction of himself being right, he saw Clary on the ground, blood pouring into a pool around her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so this part wasn't exactly in my dream, but that part was a little blurry, so i used my writing skills. i know, they're not that good. i don't own anything...**

Chapter 4: Blood

Jace collapsed at Clary's side, ripping a piece of fabric off his new hoddie and wrapping it around her wrist, where blood was seeping through the flesh and onto the pavement. His mind was in a rush, eyes still recovering sight from when he was choked.

The rain started up again as Jace scooped Clary up in his arms. It pounded down on them with no mercy, almost as though some angel wanted to wash away all the blood. But it was impossible, the red liquid just stained the ground even more. It mixed with the rain like scarlet ink in a glass of water, diffusing slowly into the colour of wine.

Deep pants robbed Jace of his original rhythmical breathing when he ran up to the door of the Institute. Grabbing the cold, copper nob under his palm, he breathed the words confirming him of being a Shadowhunter like a monk in a monetary, chanting away. The door soon swung open, welcoming them into the building. Once inside, even forgetting to close the door, he shouted the first thing that came to mind, "ALEC!"

A dark figure rushed into the entry way, his face illuminated from the flames on the candelabras. Alec looked like he'd always had, a mop of black hair on his head, a black t-shirt with worn jeans. He came in, having a sullen look on his face, almost like he knew something horrible had occurred.

The boys didn't exchange any words, just flung an arm across Alec's shoulder and together half dragged Clary inside.

Once in the elevator, Jace allowed what had happened to sink into his bones. He was barely able to hold Clary. A desperate need to scream came to him, a desperate need of everything, of an answer, of what to do, of wanting to turn back the clock, of wanting this to have never happened. But it did, and it took all his strength to grind his teeth together, and grab Clary so she didn't fall out of Alec's grasp. He turned to his friend, who was more like a brother, but Alec just had his head down, sad and ready to help.

The elevator dinged and they scrambled out, seeing Isabelle across the hallway. She stared in worry for a second, then ran down the hall in the opposite direction, yelling back "I'll get the kit."

The next part was a blur to Jace, who's actions became so automatic that the only way he kept them up was because he'd done this a million times. Tending to a fallen Nephilim was common, very common, too common. Just the memory of Alec's comforting hand on his shoulder, and Isabelle rushing in, replacing his strips of hoddie from Clary's arm with real bandages, then cleaning out the wound, drawing an _iratze_and then becoming silent like the rest of them, those memories, had stuck.

They sat, side by side, on three chairs in the room, afraid of breaking the delicate silence. Both Isabelle and Alec knew it would have been useless to have asked what happened. That was what mundanes did, but to Shadowhunters, it didn't make a difference. Whatever the occurance, they were still going to act upon it just the same."Should we call Mom?" Isabelle finally asked, after what seemed like hours.

"Jace?" It was Alec, clearly not being able to make a decision, or just thingking that it wasn't his decision to make. It was long before Jace answered. "Yeah, call Maryse. But..." His eyes turned on Alec, "Magnus is the one she needs."


	5. Chapter 5

**This part was totes in my dream, and very clear too! Jace sitting by the bed and everything. as for the enchanted saliva part, i made that up, considering how in the books they all talk about vampire bites, and like nothing else bites. hope u like! i don't own anything...**

Chapter 5: Agony or Darkness, which do you prefer?

Agony. At least Jace had never preferred agony, he was just in agony. It's been three days, and within those hours Jace has been coming in and out of pain, unable to think clearly, unable to leave her bedside. The windows opened and closed with the days, letting sun in. He didn't feel it, he didn't feel anything.

She wasn't waking up, that was what had scared him. He even threatened to kill Chairman Meow if Magnus didn't give him a good answer. On some terms, Magnus did give him an answer, the right one at that, but it had just allowed Jace to swirl even deeper in his worries. It only earned Magnus a worried and "you shouldn't have done that" look from Alec.

Magnus said that the brain of a Shadowhunter is hardwired so that if a enchanted substance were to move into the blood stream, all but the subconscious part of the brain will shut down. "It would have resembled a siege," Magnus stated.

He argued that this wasn't true. Simon had bit him before, and his saliva had to have gotten into Jace's bloodstream, so why wasn't he paralyzed. But apparently the substances were different, the Forsaken's had enchantments from runes. That made it all worse.

Magnus didn't even know what would happen, he suggested that everything would be fine. But he had also added that he didn't know whether or not the brain will shut down the subconscious as well, which means any minute, Clary could be plunged into nothingness. Death, without even knowing it.

That's what had scared Jace the most, not knowing. What would happen? What could happen? Magnus had tried his best, draining himself of all the powers he had on spells and rituals to try and awake the mind, but nothing, nothing but a little more rasp in her breath or a twitch in her fingers.

A messenger, Maia, sent to Idris, considering how Alicante had no phones. He also awaited the crushing wrath of Jocelyn, ready to tear him into pieces. Her was her little girl, a vegetable now because of some one she had hated in the first place. And he would have let her. He would have welcome the torturing punishment, for that's what he deserved. He had screwed up, and now he can't even pay for it! What a world.

He had to think. But how can he when a huge rock of emotions hanged over his head. It had crashed down several times now, and Jace had felt the pain full on.

Bloodstream, he thought, Magnus said the infection was in the bloodstream. So maybe it's not the spells that are not working, maybe the siege can be altered. But how? How were sieges altered? When the threat was eliminated. We need to get the threat out of her system. We need to bleed her. "We need to bleed her," he mumbled, his mouth dry and uncomfortable saying words considering how it's been days since he'd spoken any.

Isabelle from across the room, still pulling on the string to allow the curtains to gap wide, turned quickly, "What?"

Jace stared up into the sunlight, finally feeling its rays shaking him like thunder. He looked up vulnerably at Isabelle, and if it hadn't been such a gloomy time, Izzy might have scrambled to take a picture of the priceless expression.

"We need to bleed her," he said more loudly.


	6. Chapter 6

**one of the only parts i put in that are not from my original dream. but very intense, thought it should bring the tension between simon and Jace. i don't own anything, bla bla, enjoy!**

Chapter 6: Through to Simon

The rain beat heavily down on New York, but the tension was not to be washed away. Jace stood waiting for a boy he dreaded, someone he never got used to, never got to like, and yet had to stand because of Clary.

He sucked the polluted air of the city in through his clenched teeth as Simon walked around the corner and was stopped right at the gates. A vampire could never enter holy land like the Institute. Jace made his way towards the other boy and was just about to slouch against the gates when Simon grabbed him by the shirt threateningly, pulling him close so that he could peer into his serious eyes.

"What happened, what you do, Wayland?" Simon hissed.

Jace tensed, "It's Lightwood, and I didn't do any thing," he quickly became casual again, loosing all the crazy consciousness that was haunting him in the days before. He shrugged off Simon's grasp.

"That was the problem! You were supposed to be protecting her!" Simon yelled, his fangs beginning to show.

"I tried!"

"Well, that's not good enough! Because if it was, she wouldn't be in there dying!"

There was a long pause. "You're right," Jace muttered after they'd both calmed down, "I made a mistake."

"Yeah, one big enough to cause her life."

"Frankly, I feel horribly about it, but what are you going to do? Kill me?"

"I'm thinking about it." Another long pause, "I know you have a plan, Wayland, or you know I would kill you on the spot."

"It's Lightwood," Jace stated through grinding teeth. "and yes, I do. We bleed her."

This time Simon's heard enough, and pounced. Jace dived to out of the way, him being faster than the vampire, and Simon quickly turned on him again. "What are you trying to do?" Jace yelled.

"Kill you, wasn't that the plan?" Simon yelled back, "you are _not_ bleeding her!" He slowed down to look at Jace. "You can't be serious."

"Well, you've got a better proposal? Isabelle told you what happened, the toxin is in her blood, and how else do you get that out of her system?" Jace extended his arms out of both sides of him, "you can kill me if you want. But I'm just saying, at least it makes sense."

"No, it doesn't, that's why even mundane doctors stopped using it long ago!" Simon's chest would've been heaving, except he needed no breath at all, he didn't get tired. When he broke yet another silence, he said, "I'll be there."

"How, you can't come in..."

"I'll be there!" And with that Simon walked away into the rain, his soaking mop of dark hair plastering to his forehead.


	7. Chapter 7

**Tricky tricky, oh, Jace Alec bromance, yah! i don't own anything, bla bla, enjoy!**

Chapter 7: Getting to the source

The curtains were drawn to release a painful light into the room, illuminating the paleness of Clary's face. From sitting relentlessly by her bedside, to now in constant motion, pacing around her room, Jace was still very much disturbed from all that was around him. Food still kept away from his stomach, but at least now Isabelle was able to wrestle some water into him.

There was soft murmuring coming from the corner of the room where Isabelle talked into her cell, describing the scene to a very worried Simon.

"Bleeding her," Jace kept saying over and over again.

"I know, that's what I'm doing right now," said Magnus, annoyed, then he turned to Alec, "Can you shut this guy up, I'm trying to concentrate." He was holding a bowl under Clary's dripping arm as he gingerly pressed on the side of the cut on her skin. Drops of scarlet liquid bounced into the clean, white bowl.

"If it was the right idea, why didn't you think of it?" Jace looked up challengingly at Magnus.

"I don't know, maybe because we were stressing about her brain and not her blood before," he peered desperately at Alec, who got up and pulled an arm around Jace's shoulders and led him outside. There the two boys sat down on a storage bench.

After a while of silent unease, Jace spoke quietly, "I just want to know it's the right thing to do. I mean what if I'm putting her more in danger?" He looked with eyes of frantic desperation at Alec, who returned to him a steady gaze.

"You gotta trust yourself, and you have to trust Magnus. He thought it was a good idea, right? He's seen so many do this before, he knows it's the right thing to do. Izzy and I aren't complaining, and Simon's just overprotective. You would've done worse if you were in his position."

Jace fiddled with his hands, and Alec suddenly realized that's he's never seen his brother so undone before. This was a big deal, bigger than anything. Jace wasn't even this bad whenever it came to Valentine.

"This was my fault," Jace said as if he was reasoning to someone, "I just, I don't know what happened."

"I do," Jace stared at Alec, startled, "You've been unnerved ever since you got hold of that box, ever since the event with Valentine happened, and we've all been, but you've started to become a different person, someone who's more about finding out things than of fighting. I mean, a few years ago, you didn't care why you fought, you just had one purpose. But after that summer, you started to care about the reasons. And, don't hurt me, but it's made you a crappier fighter," he put up a hand to protect himself, "and you weren't that good to begin with."

Jace's mouth formed a tight line, but the corners of it tipped upwards. "Look who's talking."

"Thanks, just thanks," Alec said, then laughed softly. Another moment of silence enveloped them. "She's gonna be okay." Alec stated. "That's just it, she's gonna be fine."

Jace looked at him, trying to find, something, in his words, and it seemed like in the end he found what he was looking for, "Yeah." he said and looked towards the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm pretty proud of myself for dreaming about the dream that Clary had, because it really goes with the theme you know! Besides the part of Simon and Jace talking, every thing else was very closely based on my dream! I don't own anything, bla bla, enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Awaken

After the bleeding, Isabelle pressured Jace to at least take a shower. "You stink," she complained.

"Thanks."

"And besides, you've been in this room for, what, a week now? The only time you went outside was to meet Simon, and _that _had caused your hair to look like it does. Plus, you've got black charcoal for bags under your eyes. I suggest warm water and soap, and a bed."

"What about.."

"What? You don't trust me with her?" Isabelle placed her hands on her hips.

"No."

She stared at him threateningly, "she's important to me too. You don't have to act like this is only your problem."

Jace sighed, and Izzy pushed him out of the room, "at least take a shower, you really do stink."

Unwillingly taking her advice, he stripped off his week old clothes and stepped into a tyrant of hot water.

After the shower, Jace got dressed in dark jeans and a white T-shirt and went to Clary's room, and found the door locked. He knocked on it, but the only reply was Izzy's loud voice scolding him to go away.

He decided he needed to trust people, so Jace went back to his room and took off his shirt, which had been soaked from his wet hair. He laid his wet head onto the pillow and closed his eyes.

…

Red. That was all Clary could see, red. The colour of love, the colour of hate, the colour of wine, and the colour of blood. She extended her hands in front of her, and realized she was submerged in liquid. Clary kicked frantically and drew her arms painstakingly slowly around her, yelled and creating bubbles when she opened her mouth.

A box, she felt like she was trapped in a box full of scarlet liquid. How she had gotten there, and how she would get out, she had no clue, but she only knew one thing, and that was to see what was outside. And there stood Jace, his hands clenched at his sides. He was in a treacherous state, his hair muddied, his clothes wet and bloody, and his skin sprinkled with soot, covering his white scars.

Clary tried calling his name, but the sound seemed to stayed trapped in the box, just as she was. Bubbles flowed like butterflies all around her, and she tried calling her name again, louder and louder, wishing with all her might that he would hear her, that he would look up and see her trapped in her blood cell. "Jace! Jace!"

…

There was a loud banging noise on Jace's door and Alec busted into the room. Jace sat up quickly. "She's awake," two simple words. Alec ran out into the hall, with Jace quickly behind him.

…

Clary was drowning. She felt her body's need for oxygen, and she knew her life was hanging on a thread. She needed to breathe, air, she needed air.

…

Jace saw Isabelle standing before Clary's door and sprinted towards her. From inside, he could hear Clary's yelling. "She's calling for you," Izzy said, her cheeks wet. She threw open the door, and Jace slipped in.

…

Clary thrusted her limbs out, trying to keep afloat. It was getting harder, controlling her actions. Soon there'd be no more energy for her to even move. But she had to keep going, and she continued to scream Jace's name. But he still didn't look up.

…

Jace rushed into the room and pinned Clary's flailing hands on either side of her and sat beside her on the bed. She continued to yell his name and she continued to squirm around. "Clary, wake up, Clary!" he said, hope she would hear him.

…

Clary felt the whole tank of red liquid wash away, but the best thing was, Jace finally looked up.

…

A deep breath shook Clary's whole body as she came into consciousness. Her dream left her feeling like she was a fish out of water. She took several deep heaves of oxygen and her vision cleared, and she saw a boy with damp blond hair and no shirt looming in front of her, and she couldn't have been more relieved. "Jace!" she squealed in delight, and wrapped her hands around his neck, drawing him close. She breathed him in, smelling the lavender soap fresh on his body.

Jace felt the icy cold fingers make contact with his bare skin, and he shivered. He slid his hand between the small of her back and the covers, feeling cold sweat on her tank top. They were both breathing heavily, but soon they began to laugh softly, knowing it would all be okay.


	9. Chapter 9

**Jocelyn, over protective much. hope you like, i don't own anything...**

Chapter 9: Relief doesn't go far

"Where is he?" there came a loud raucous from through the elevator and Jace braced himself for the worst of the encounter. Only the shouting was audible through the walls, then, the elevator pulled up to the second floor and he could hear desperate calming tones of Luke trying to have an effect Jocelyn, and the strict voice of Maryse, trying to talk sense into her. But nothing would of worked, Jace knew. In a way, Jocelyn and he were quite alike, with their disappointment and hatred towards Valentine, and their unattainable love for Clary. He would have chopped any one's head off for doing what he had done, and Jocelyn was no exception.

Jace stood in plain view of the elevator, almost right in front of it, no weapons at hand, no feelings of a fight coming, just a surrender. When Jocelyn pulled through the elevator doors, she drew her seraph blade and thrusted it under Jace's chin even before he had time to take another breath. Their faces were inches from each other, and Jace was startled to see how much Clary resembled her mother. The tough iron chore they shared, the red hair and fiery attitude.

Jocelyn, however, hesitated a moment before Luke grabbed her by the waste and pulled from the boy. His glasses almost got flinged away when Jocelyn struggled. First there were just howling of rage and then words started to vaporize from her mouth. "I trusted you, Morgenstern, I left her here because I trusted you!" she screamed. Jace just stared at the floor like he was a punished child for being disobedient and he felt a pang of memories from when he have lived under Valentine's care.

"Jocelyn, please," Luke whispered, barely audible over the struggle. Soon the room was filled with the rest of the Institute's inhabitants. Alec strolled in, eyes alarmed, as he took in the scene with a toothbrush dangling in his mouth, and Isabelle, her hair a bird nest (which was an understatement), stood by her bedroom door, where she was able to take in the scene. And then Clary, who was the one who took up his attention. She was running, but she was still weak from the loss of blood, he could see it from her strides. "Mom," she said frantically, "Mom!"

Jocelyn slowed down a little, enough for Luke to really get a hold of her and snatch the seraph blade from grasp. "Jocelyn, see? She's alright."

"Clary," Jocelyn whispered, then went all maternal and hugged Clary. Clary pulled her arms around her mother, and for a while, everything seemed okay, until Jocelyn pushed Clary away a little and stood to stare at Jace. "What did you do, Morgenstern, you were supposed to protect her!"

"Mom!" Clary yelled, "don't call him that."

"Clary, it's okay," Jace huffed, not wanting to get her into it.

"Is your mind as screwed up as I thought?" Jocelyn spat out, "Guess you're trained for nothing! You're as useless as your father." She put as much venom into her words as possible, Jace could sense it. It hurt him, the words, it really did, all the past summer's events started to flow back, but he stood there, taking it all in, feeling like he deserved it.

"Mom!" Clary said again, this time putting some power into her own words as well, "stop this. He did nothing."

"That's exactly the point," Jocelyn hissed. Simon had said something like that, and if he were here, Jace would be sure for a double team.

"Jonathan Christopher," Jocelyn continued, except this was worse than calling him a Morgenstern, "Maybe you aren't my half demon child, but you are close. As evil and careless as his father."

"MOM!" Jace could tell Clary has had enough, she stared Jocelyn down, "I said stop this. And do NOT, _ever_, call him that name again."

For a while, Jocelyn looked taken aback from Clary's fierceness towards her, and surprisingly, so was Jace. But then Jocelyn collapsed from the conversation, putting her hand on her head, strolled to one of the couches and plopped down, facing away from Jace. Luke went to sit by her side and so did Maryse. Clary peered at Jace hesitantly, then shrugged and whispered to her mother. Jocelyn looked at her, taking in the fact that she was okay, and then waved her hand dismissively. Clary walked over to Jace.

"It's an improvement, you know," Clary stated, tiredly, "she didn't kill you."

"You need to rest," Jace was all serious that morning, no joking around. "You weren't supposed to be running."

"And when do I ever listen to you?" a faint ghost of a smile creeped over Clary's face, and she took his arm in her hands and dragged him towards the couches. Jace looked back to see Isabelle and Alec, but when they sensed trouble if following him, they went their separate ways, Alec resuming the rhythmatic brushing of his teeth, and Isabelle pulling at her hair as she headed back into her room. He was alone on this one.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hope you like, it's almost done. ha, hope you like the simon part! he's awesome. i don't own anything...**

Chapter 10: Reasoning

It was late afternoon when they had finished explaining the story of the Forsaken and Clary's coma. They made sure to sidestep some points (Like Jace's crazed no-food-no-drink-no-nothing-until-Clary-got-better phase) and to emphasize others, (Like it was Jace's idea to bleed her), all to make Jace more easy to forgive. Of course, the idea of bleeding Clary didn't exactly thrill Jocelyn, but because it had worked, she didn't make too much of a fuss. The whole time Clary and Maryse talked him up, Jace sat quietly, staring at the ground. What else could he have done?

When it was time to present the other side of the story, Luke took over. Apparently, it had taken some time for Maia to get out of New York, one, because she had no way to make a portal, not with Magnus preoccupied, and two, her mundane plane was delayed three times over because of bad weather. As well, she had no way to get right to Idris, so she had to stop at Berlin and run all the way to the border. There came the real trouble: border crossing. The German Police, with all the security, allowed no unauthorized subjects passed the border without official papers and passports. It took a while for her to cross, but when she did, Maia ended up right in France. This made no sense, she, as a Downworlder, would have encountered Idris, but she didn't, and she didn't take another try. In a small town in France, she got hold of a warlock she knew in Paris, who took a train down to where she was, and made a portal for her that way. Once inside the borders of Idris, she turned wolf and ran all the way to Alicante, no stops in between, not even in when it meant she would collapse of excursion right when she hit Amatis' doorway. Clary had to admire the determination of this girl.

When the stories were done, they sat in silence for a while, then Jocelyn spoke. "You had to have a reason for going there, or you would really be as stupid as I thought you were."

Jace looked up to see the piercing stare of Jocelyn's green eyes. "Well?" she said.

"I, uh," his palms began to sweat, and he would have been a lot better if she got up and fought him rather than ask him questions, he cleared his throat, "I heard some Downworlders talk about a revolt for Valentine, some one by the name of Eirik. Then Magnus came to confirm my suspicions, saying that the warlock was his past mentor, and had wanted him in his circle to fight the Clave. Eventually I found out about the office building, and that's when it started."

There was a long pause, even Clary didn't know this much. Then Luke stated in a reassuring voice of a fact that was not reassuring at all, "Which means they know about you, about us, and he won't be there any longer."

"Do we risk a fight though?" Maryse interrupted, "We're still yet to have more numbers of Conclave in New York as it is."

"We've talked about that to them, they'll be sending more," Jocelyn stated.

"But still not soon enough for this fight," Clary said. "We need as much people as possible."

"No," Jace whispered, but Clary pretended not to hear him. There was another pause, and then Clary's phone chimed up. She slid the phone from her pocket and observed the caller ID, Simon. "Hey," she said into the speaker, but then immediately realized that he was not to have heard her, he was in a loud crowd of some sort.

"Clary!" he yelled, "This is about Eirik."

"Eirik? How do you know him?"

"I'll tell you later. Who are you with?"

Clary looked around the room, and even before she finished telling Jace's name, which was first on her list, Simon screamed, "Get me on speaker!"

Clary drew away the phone and pushed a button and the sound from the phone filled the quiet room. "I did some snooping. It turned out that this Eirik guy is a warlock, wanting a revolt on the Clave! He was Valentine's..."

"Yeah, Simon, we know, " Clary said impatiently.

"Oh, okay. Any ways, through some sources, I've joined their team."

"Simon, what?" Clary yelled in astonishment and looked to Jace, but his face was expressionless.

"Don't worry, I don't hate you guys that much! I just joined to get to know more. It turns out that the office building that you were at, that's just one of his many recruitment centers. His system's not complicated, he doesn't even need a headquarters. He doesn't seem to bright, but I'm not sure about the force that he's got. I'm surrounded by about 300 Downworlders who hates you guys to the guts and we're heading towards Albany! I think that's where all his forces will rise and get to the Conclave, then move out and slowly into Europe. From what I've heard, he has no sponsors there, nor any man power, just talk that this group will survive any attack in New York and then move straight to Idris. There's a huge portal in Albany, I think."

Clary and Jace shot their heads up at the same time. There was a look that shocked through the room, then Simon's voice came back, "Don't tell me you guys knew that one as well. Or else this is totally pointless."

"No, we didn't know that Simon, thanks."

"Kay, no problem. It's actually quite fun being a part of a mob. Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. One question, Simon, how are you getting away with shouting all this at us and not having any one attack you?"

"Oh, that, ha, I picked a distinctively Mexican group to stick with. I doubt any of them have been in New York for a long time, nor do they speak any English. Even if I run into some trouble I can fight." Simon stopped talking and Clary heard Spanish music being played in the background, "If you want to do anything, do it now, cause once we get to Albany, we go straight to Idris, and it'll just mean more recruitment there."

"Kay, we'll be there, thanks Simon!" and she shut her phone before he was able to protest. "Guess we're going on a road trip," she said cheerily.

"No," Jace and Jocelyn said at the same time. Then they looked to each other, surprised.

It was Jocelyn who spoke afterwards, "No, honey, you're not going."

"What?" Clary exclaimed, just the thought annoyed her, they still thought she couldn't protect herself, "No I'm going. I can defend myself, even kill a couple of Downworlders."

"No, end of discussion, Clarissa, you are not going," Jocelyn stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Oh, yes I am. Jace, tell her how much I've improved. I could totally fight," she looked to Jace and her heart sank. He's said "no" more times than her mother had, she now realized, he would've been the last person to have let her tag along. His golden eyes dark, Jace shook his head. "Your mother's right, Clary," he saw Jocelyn's stunned reaction in the corner of his eye, "Plus, you're weak from the incident..."

"It's been two days!"

"That's not enough," he raised his voice a little, a desperate twinge fell through, "You'll slow us down, you're not going. Please don't fight or I'll have to keep Isabelle here to watch you, and we're short on people as it is."

"Then let me go!"

"No," his tone was final, and Clary knew he wouldn't change his mind. They've had this fight before, and every time, her skills were getting better, every time, she understood less and less about why he did this. But of course, she understood fully why he did this, he didn't want to loose her. A mere trip to investigate, he can handle, but to a fight where he was certain that there'd be a bloodbath, that was forbidden territories for her. And she hated that.


	11. Chapter 11

**Just a small part of the fight. a really small fight. this wasn't part of my dream though, but I had to finish it somehow. i don't own anything... enjoy!**

Chapter 11: Escape

"This is _so _not far!" Clary yelled as the elevator went down, holding all of the Conclave of New York except her and Isabelle, stationed there to watch her. Izzy lounged on a couch as she watched Clary stalk back into the living room and pace. Then Clary stopped to stare the other girl in the face.

"Do you even care?" she asked quietly.

"Not really. They gave me a job, and I'm doing it," Isabelle observed her neatly filed and painted nails.

"Oh my angel, even you are not yourself today. At least before they didn't keep a guard here!"

"Yeah, and you got to Idris any way. I say, it's good I'm here," Isabelle got up lazily and walked over to the window, drawing the corners of the curtain so that she can see out. After a while, the relaxed posture spiked into an all alert, ready to move feel. "They're gone, let's go," she moved away from the window quickly and flung her jacket on and threw Clary one too. Clary just stood, awed.

"What? I thought you were on their side."

"You got to give me more credit, girlfriend, I wouldn't miss a fight like this, now let's go!" Izzy pressed furiously at the elevator button. "If only I could just jump out of the window like Jace," she murmured, "that'll be awesome."

"But," Clary was still a little slow, but she moved to stand beside Izzy and walked into the elevator as it arrived. "They took the cars."

Isabelle's face materialized a faintly mysterious smirk, "Told you it's good that I'm here."

…

The last time she had ridden a motorcycle was into the New York twilight sky with Jace in front of her, and compared to Isabelle, Jace drove very cautiously. You would think that being on the ground and in traffic would make Isabelle less daredevilish, but nothing made her less daredevilish. They passed through the streets so fast that it was hard to open her eyes, and Clary could barely even hold on to Isabelle's waist. "We'll probably even get there before they do, I mean, no one drives like I," Isabelle had warned her. Now Clary sort of regretted ignoring the voice in the back of her head that had told her never to get on this death machine with Izzy.

As they got past the busy streets and into calmer areas of the state, Clary started to relax. Their surroundings possessed less of a danger, not to them, but to themselves, for the towering buildings gave way to vast green lands. In what felt like a few minutes, they were in Albany.

Putting Simon on speaker, the two girls received the exact address of the portal, the point of which Simon's Mexican crew have already gotten at. They needed to hurry.

Finding the address took little time with Isabelle's iPhone, and the place turned out to be a huge field of crops looked over by no one, since of the farmers who had owned the place died long ago. Even before they had came close, Clary had seen a field dotted with a mob of humanoid things.

Once they parked their bike close by, Izzy pointed out the Conclave's cars. Since the Silent Brothers had died, the Shadowhunters have gotten used to driving, a thing that had annoyed the ancient archivists, the only reason why every one had avoided them. They saw the group standing just outside of the car doors and thought better than to walk straight over. They would observe what the Nephilim will do, then join in to help.

As Clary crouched beside Isabelle behind a bush, she really got to notice the Downworlders in the crowd. What she thought would be a replica of the well trained and disciplined force of Valentine's choosing was actually a group of what looked like under-paid city workers who could barely afford clothing or personal hygiene. Clary thought that perhaps none of them even knew who Valentine was, and was just doing this because they needed some pocket money. Even werewolves need to buy food sometimes.

Clary realized, for a sudden relieving moment that the Downworlders were not of one mind either. In fact, they were turning on each other just as Clary watched. A Faerie bit at a vampire's ear as the vampire sucked the pixie's blood. A wolf leaped on several warlocks, causing them to turn and raise their hands to blow the wolf to pieces. This was going to be a easy fight, Clary thought.

Just then, Isabelle's ringtone blared through the noise, and some vampires turned around to their direction, then thought better of it and returned to their brawl with a wolf. Isabelle cursed under her breath and held up the phone so that both of them can hear it. Simon's laugh ringed through the speaker. "Both of you better be proud of me for my Spanish classes! I got some of my friends to become my minions, I told them I would give them a great amount of blood if they helped us. We've already been hacking through the crowd, and we're getting close to have ciento killed! Ah, love me!" He laughed again and then there was a horrible tearing and cracking sound that Clary never wanted to see what caused it.

"Okay, awesome, how many more do you think are still in the crowd?" Isabelle said in a harsh whisper.

"Well, it seems like we've gotten through a good portion of the crowd, and now even as we go, some of the Downworlders are already dead, are you guys killing yet?"

Clary looked over to the Conclave, but they've only just started to hack through the enormous mob, and Simon was no where to be seen. "Yeah," she replied, "but the Conclave's only just started, I doubt their accomplishments have made it to you yet." She looked over again to see that the Shadowhunters were having absolutely no trouble killing the unskilled, working class Downworlders, and she began to wonder if they had over-estimated this situation.

"Simon," Izzy said, "um, they seem to be killing each other..."

Clary saw that Isabelle had kept her eyes on the crowd in front of them, and she peered to that direction to see three vampires stalking their way towards the girls' hiding spot. "Oh no, okay, bye Simon," Izzy rushed to clicked her phone shut. Swiping it into her jacket pocket, she stood up and brought out two seraph blades and called out their names. They burst into flames like light savers and Isabelle handed Clary one of them. They attacked.

Though her body was still in fatigue from the previous days, Clary had no trouble moving her limbs at her will. And with all the training she had put in throughout the months, killing these guys felt like a piece of cake. Their moves were so predictable. They lunged at her throat, but all Clary had to do was flick them off with the knife before they came to contact. She was going through with a breeze along side Isabelle when a hard force made contact with her shoulder and grabbed her back.

Jace pushed Clary behind him and took out the remaining vampires. Then turned around, "I'm not even going to ask, just stay over there," he ordered, thrusting his finger towards the side of the road where the field ended.

"No!" Clary screamed and ran into the crowd, pushing her knife out to the on coming enemies. She knew that if Jace was preoccupied with fighting, it would have been harder for him to get to her. She needed none of his protection today. Today, she was a warrior.

It seemed a while of just hacking at Downworlders before she almost chopped Simon's head off. He grabbed her by the wrists and held her at shoulder length, calling her name. After that, the fight died down a little and Jace rushed back to Clary's side. "What the hell?" he shouted at her, then looked at Simon and said casually, "Hey."

They took a moment to look around them, and it seemed like the field turned from crops into bodies. Isabelle and Alec seemed to have met up during the fight, and they were putting the bodies ablaze just as Simon called out. "Hey, no, they're with me!" Clary followed his gaze to see Luke and Maryse killing off the final few Downworlders. They didn't fight much, and Clary turned to Simon and put a hand on his back. He slumped unhappily. "I'm sorry Simon," she whispered.

Simon cleared his throat, "Nothing to be sorry for. This way I won't have to pay them any more." His tone remained somewhat cheery, but Clary could tell that he was sad to loose some new gained friends.


	12. Chapter 12

**Last chapter, i know, short story. hope u liked it! i don't own anything...**

Chapter 12: Overprotective

The ride back to the Institute was hell. Clary was forced into a car with Jace and Jocelyn, both wanting to keep an eye on her. She had begged to go back with Isabelle and her motorcycle, she would have wanted that even over this awkward, deathly silence.

Apparently there were no casualties on the Shadowhunter's side, and only a few of the Nephilim had even gotten a scratch on themselves. Robert Lightwood was the one to have found Eirik cowering behind a tree, and they slid his throat. Before that, they made sure, through the warlock's own mouth, that no more of his minions were in any place than Albany. Luke was the one that kept talk, determined to annoy the awkwardness away, and Clary was grateful.

At the Institute, Clary was put into the full mercy of Jocelyn's punishment, and of course, Jace will have a little talk with her afterwards, with only Isabelle as a witness, because she's in huge trouble as well for helping her escape. Clary made it very clear that it was Izzy's idea to go, though.

"I cannot believe you didn't listen to me! Well, actually, it's quite predictable, no? You've never obeyed me, ever, Clary, and maybe I thought after all this time that maybe you have learned just exactly why you need to listen, and still you pull something like this!" Jocelyn pulled some profanities within her speech as well.

Finally, after her rant was finished, she leaned into Clary's face, her hands gripping either side of Clary's chair's sides, "You could have been killed, Clary. I don't think you understand when people tell you they care whether or not they loose you, even if you don't care as much as they do," she paused a moment, "Imagine you in our shoes, Clary. Stop thinking of yourself. Do you really think I'd be overreacting if I was just injured as went into battle after you specifically told me not to?" she took a shaky breath before continuing, "What about Jace?" Clary felt a pang of guilt and worry for him all of a sudden, because she knows how if felt when he left not in the best of conditions, fighting when he's clearly not fit to challenge any one, and breaking her heart every time he did so. She started to realize what her mother was talking about and Jocelyn backed off.

She stood at the entrance of the living room, her next words barely registered in Clary's mind, "Luke will be here in 10 minutes, I want you downstairs before that. We'll talk about your official punishment at home, Isabelle," she looked to the girl, who slumped carelessly at the side, waiting for her own reaping, "Better clear out."

"Got it," she said half-heartedly and stepped out of the room with Jocelyn.

Clary was surprised to find that her mother had left Jace and herself alone. It wasn't an every day occurrence, frankly. In fact, never on Jocelyn's watch. But there they sat, silent, but alone, and Clary feared for the words coming, for they hurt a lot more when they came out of Jace. But when he talked, he only murmured two, soft words that were barely audible for Clary, "My fault."

There was another silence that followed, enveloping the room with it's calmness. Clary felt a huge rock lifted off her shoulders as he said it just as a new enormous boulder took its place. How could it be his fault? Did he mean this recent event or the Forsaken? Probably both. "Jace," Clary laughed, really, hysterically laughed as Jace stared at her. After a while, Clary got up from her chair and wrapped her arms around Jace's head, which was leveled to hers because he was sitting.

After her hysteria subsided, Clary whispered the words that threatened to choke her, to make her mute, to drown her in desire to make her point, "Don't ever leave me with Isabelle again," she stared into the orange gold outline of his pupil, "Take me with you next time." She smiled, then their lips met softly in a pleasant afternoon kiss, and with one last tousle of his blond hair, she left.

…

On that Saturday morning, Jace sat at the kitchen table with a cup of black coffee and his newspaper perched in the ends of his knees as they rested on the table. He took a sip of his hot drink and remembered when Clary had told her how she wanted her coffee to Simon, "Black, like my soul," in a small coffee place when this had all started. He smiled at the memory and took another sip.

Alec shuffled in with a mop of black hair spiking up on ends on his head. He arranged his coffee and leaned at the counter, looking thoughtfully at Jace. For a while, Jace just ignored him, then said, "If you want the paper, just ask, don't just stare at me. I know I'm a piece of work and all, but I can't take too much."

Alec laughed, "No it's not that, though I appreciate it. It's your mood, you've lightened up."

"Well," Jace focused back to his article, "A good fight always does the trick."

"No, it doesn't," Alec observed, "It's something about this one. Did you care what was behind it? How it related to Valentine, or any thing from that summer, actually?"

Jace crumpled his paper as he put it down, "Surprisingly, no. Even though it's got such a huge relation to what happened. It's weird. Before every little thing mattered, but this time, I guess I've been more occupied with Clary. Then Simon told us all we needed to know, basically, so not much thinking there."

"Well, something changed," he came forward and patted Jace on the shoulder, "I'm glad."

"Yeah, I still don't think it's completely gone, the reasoning, I mean." he took a big breath, "But I'll work through it. Thanks." He gestures with his mug to Alec.

"No problem," Alec stalked out of the kitchen, leaving with one more pat on the back for Jace, a hard one, just as Jace raised the mug to his mouth and jet black liquid spewed out on his face, and Alec had the good sense to start running.


End file.
